Madhya Pradesh panchayat polls: one dead at polling booth in wall collapse

Bhopal: One person was reported killed after wall of a polling booth collapsed in Madhya Pradesh's Satna district as the voting for the first phase of three-tire panchayat elections began on Saturday.

Deceased has been identified as Raja Kushwaha. He was sitting at polling booth in Tikha village in Satna district when a wall collapsed. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where he was declared brought dead, police said.

While the voting for the first phase was underway, some scuffle broke out at a polling booth in Gwalior-Chambal division. In another incident in Damoh district, a Sub-Inspector (SI) was injured after two groups clashed at a polling station.

As per reports, incident occurred after SI Inderjeet Choudhary, who was on duty at polling booth, pushed a voter out which made the villagers angry. Subsequently, locals created a ruckus at the polling centre. "Additional forces were called in, situation was brought under control and voting continued peacefully," police said.

According to Madhya Pradesh State Election Commission (MP-SEC), as many as 52,000 police personnel have been deployed at polling booths to ensure free and fair elections.

Counting of votes will take place at the polling station itself immediately after the voting is over. Voting which began at 7 a.m. will end at 3 p.m.